Donald Trump was treated to an unprecedented display of military pomp as his historic second state visit began with a ceremonial welcome.
But in addition to the flashy displays, his behaviour has also been under intense scrutiny after his previous state visit saw accusations of royal protocol breaches thrown around.
In 2018, POTUS had just enjoyed tea with Queen Elizabeth before he marched ahead of her, appearing completely ‘oblivious’ of who exactly was behind him.
Footage showed the Queen instructing Trump on where to walk and which way because he was clearly getting it all very wrong.
According to royal etiquette, one should never turn their back on the monarch or walk in front of them.
And a similar hiccup happened today, when Trump marched in front of King Charles.
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe has weighed in on this and other alleged instances of royal protocol breaks for Metro.
The first was Trump and his wife, Melania, being 20 minutes late to a greeting from Prince William and Princess Kate before they were to meet Queen Camilla and King Charles.
Mr Larcombe said: ‘Being late for a meeting with the Royals is a breach of protocol. You wouldn’t want to keep the Queen waiting, and King Charles probably wasn’t very happy about it either.
‘However, when you’re talking about the leader of the free world, the President of America, it’s a bit silly to complain about being kept waiting. It would be seen as impolite.’
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Trump’s handshake with Princess Kate also raised a few eyebrows – but it was not a breach of protocol.
Mr Larcombe explains: ‘She is a future Queen, but she is not the Queen herself. To be honest, there’s probably nothing wrong with that in terms of protocol.’
But the moment on everyone’s minds was Trump marching ahead of King Charles – a mistake he made during his last visit with Queen Elizabeth.
‘Royal protocol dictates that the visiting Head of State would follow the monarch, King Charles,’ Mr Larcombe said.
‘But it’s not a huge deal—no one is going to riot in the streets because of it—but it is a bit of a faux pas. It’s careless because the subtle things matter, and it shows that Donald Trump has disregarded authority a bit.’
Mok O’Keeffe, a royal historian, told Metro: ‘There is a warm and friendly historical relationship between the United States, America and the United Kingdom. Alongside that, we have a president who is used to breaking protocol.
‘Put these two together and you end up in a situation where Donald Trump affectionately touches the king of England.’
Mr O’Keeffe is referencing when Trump patted King Charles on the arm after the Red Arrows flew over.
He added: ‘I don’t think we need to get too worried about it and any demonstration of genuine affection between these two individuals can only be good for our country.
‘We should also remember that Michelle Obama put her arm around the late queen. It would appear that when it comes to being affectionate with the Royals, both the Republicans and the Democrats can be touchy-feely.’
As for the rest of the state visit, Mr Larcombe added: ‘Trump knows he is not the type of person to change his behaviour.
‘The Royals will just have to get used to it. I think they know when they’re dealing with Trump, there’s a certain amount of leeway given.’
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